The Council of Medical Students at Michigan State University hosted a conference March 16 to help prepare health professionals to respond to emergencies.
Based on actual disaster-relief training designed by the Michigan Department of Community Health, the Saturday conference offered an overview of the disaster-response process at the local, state and national level. The conference also sought to give participants a basic understanding of emergency preparedness and improve communication among health-related professions.
The training included a simulated disaster scenario in which participants were divided into multidisciplinary teams to develop a response to each simulated emergency.
MSU students from the Colleges of Human Medicine, Nursing, Osteopathic Medicine, Social Work, and Veterinary Medicine as well as student from the university’s Public Health Program were among the approximately 150 participants.
“Communication during an emergency is a very important skill,” said Erez Gueta, a student in the College of Veterinary Medicine and the Program in Public Health. “We need to understand how to work as a team as early in our careers as early as possible so we can effectively respond to a disaster within our community.”
Guest speakers from the Michigan Department of Community Health, Ingham County Health Department, American Red Cross, MSU Office of Public Safety, and MSU colleges of Human Medicine and Veterinary Medicine provided the overview and training materials.
Sponsors of the conference included the colleges of Human Medicine, Osteopathic Medicine and Veterinary Medicine, as well as the Public Health Program.